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Zimbabwe PM calls for reforms before election

(AFP) – 2 hours
ago

HARARE — Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Tuesday
called for peace and demanded political reforms before any election to
replace a coalition government with his long time rival President Robert
Mugabe.

"There must be a non-violent environment so that people vote in a
free and fair vote," Tsvangirai said while addressing hundreds of workers
marking Workers Day at Gwanzura stadium in Harare.

"Elections must
not reproduce the 2008 scenario where Tsvangirai wins but cannot form a
government, that we will not accept."

"This unity government must be
ended by a process which was agreed by SADC (Southern African Development
Community), there must be a new constitution, there must be a referendum, a
new voters roll," he added.

Tsvangirai and Mugabe formed a coalition
government in February 2009 after a disputed presidential poll run-off in
June 2008.

Tsvangirai, who won the first round of the vote in March 2008
pulled out of the run-off citing violence against his supporters.

The
prime minister's Movement for Democratic Change has said over 200 supporters
and officials of the party were murdered during the presidential run-off.
The party blamed the violence on Mugabe's ZANU PF party.

Mugabe who has
ruled the country since 1980 when the country won its independence continues
to insist that elections will be held this year while Tsvangirai says
reforms are a condition to guarantee a free and fair vote.

The southern
African country is currently drafting a new constitution which will go to a
referendum before elections according to the political agreement brokered by
SADC to form a coalition government.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai to
receive draft constitution on Wednesday

Principals to the
GPA will receive a draft copy of the new constitution on Wednesday,
COPAC-co-chairman Douglas Mwonzora said on Tuesday.

‘We managed to
resolve some issues on devolution, death penalty and citizenship,’ Mwonzora
said, adding that the country should now be able to look forward to having a
referendum by August.

The MDC-T MP for
Nyanga North and party spokesman, told SW Radio Africa that the co-chairpersons
and management committee of COPAC met in Harare on Monday where it was decided
the principals will be handed the draft constitution.

The committee that
met comprises GPA negotiators from ZANU PF and the two MDC formations, COPAC
co-chairpersons and Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Eric
Matinenga.

‘We presented the
draft to the management committee who accepted it. They also authorized that the
draft be handed over to the principals, which they will do on Wednesday,’ the
MDC-T legislator added.

Mwonzora said they
had reached some agreement on the outstanding issues:‘On citizenship we
decided that no Zimbabwean by birth must lose their citizenship. Now we have
many Zimbabweans who are citizens of other nations. On that score we resolved
that it would be left to an act of parliament to determine whether to place any
limitations on the rights of people with dual citizenship.

‘For example, that
act of parliament will look at a scenario where a Zimbabwean with dual British
citizenship can be allowed to stand as a President or Member of Parliament.
These limitations are normal and are enshrined in many constitutions around the
world. In the USA you can never be a president when you are a citizen of another
country,’ Mwonzora said.

‘On death penalty
we agreed that it is returnable only in instances of aggravated murder. On the
issue of devolution, everything was agreed except on the composition of the
provincial assembly. The issue of an elected governor was tentatively
agreed.

‘What is left is
the structure and composition of the provincial government. Some people still
want a provincial government of people elected directly by the electorate, while
others want sitting MP’s to be appointed to this provincial set-up,’ Mwonzora
said.

He continued: ‘The
differences are not many. The management committee has tasked us
(co-chairpersons) to meet Wednesday and Thursday to deal with issues that were
agreed on and incorporate them into the new constitution.’

Leading
pro-democracy activist and lawyer Dewa Mavhinga said COPAC has only managed to
deal with a few issues in dispute, leaving the rest to be dealt with by a new
government that will emerge after the next elections.

‘Technically by
referring some of the issues to parliament is deferring them and leaving it open
for a new government to decide after the elections. What it means is that only a
new government, elected under a new constitution, can then sit down and decide
whether or not to have dual citizenship in Zimbabwe,’ Mavhinga
said.

This will come as
another setback for millions of Zimbabweans living in exile who were hoping a
new constitution would allow them to vote, but it will come as good news to ZANU
PF who are reluctant for close to 4 million Zimbabweans in exile to participate
in national elections.

Devolution
stalls new constitution

WORK on the country’s new constitution has stalled over
devolution although agreement has been reached on dual citizenship,
officials confirmed Tuesday.

A draft of the new charter has since been
handed over to the management committee which comprises GPA negotiators,
COPAC co-chairs and constitutional affairs Minister, Eric
Matinenga.

And officials said progress has been made on one of the two
major issues stalling progress after it was agreed that dual citizenship
would be dealt with through an act of Parliament.However, there appears
to be no movement on devolution which President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF
party is bitterly opposed to.

Said COPAC co-chair Paul Mangwana of Zanu
PF: “The document has been accepted and we can only say the management
committee has unparked dual citizenship where we agreed that an Act of
Parliament should deal with it.“As for devolution of power, there were quite
some discussions and we are close to an agreement.”

Douglas Mwonzora
of the MDC-T added: “The issue of dual citizenship has been resolved by
leaving everything to an Act of Parliament, but there was no movement on
devolution of power.”COPAC is under pressure to complete the writing of the
new charter which is expected to lead to new elections.

Mugabe and
his coalition partners, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and deputy, Arthur
Mutambara recently expressed concern over delays in the process and demanded
that exercise be speeded-up.

“The principals to the Global Political
Agreement expressed concern at the delay in concluding the Constitution by
both the ConstitutionParliamentary Select Committee and the management
committee,” Information Minister Webster Shamu said last week.

“The
principals directed that the Minister of Constitutional and Parliamentary
Affairs, Advocate Eric Matinenga, should work closely with the Select
Committee and the management committee in order to conclude the drafting
process by next week so as to deliver the draft Constitution to the
principals.”

A new constitution was one of a raft of political
reforms agreed under the GPA. Once completed the charter would be put to a
referendum, leading to new elections.

Mugabe wants the constitutional
reforms completed in time for elections to be held this year. The Zanu PF
leader insists that policy and other differences with his partners have
rendered the coalition government unworkable.

His rivals however,
disagree on the timing of the new ballot with Tsvangirai saying it was
unlikely that all the reforms necessary to ensure a credible ballot would be
completed this year.The MDC-T leader says a new election is only viable in
2013.

Copac
under pressure to break impasse

HARARE - Power-sharing
negotiators in the Copac management committee were last night locked up in a
meeting to break deadlocked issues in the draft constitution, as the
pressure to complete the draft mounts.

Paul Munyaradzi Mangwana, the Zanu
PF Constitutional Select Committee (Copac) co-chair confirmed that the
meeting was meant to resolve outstanding issues that are holding back the
conclusion of the draft constitution.

“We are hoping to resolve the
parked issues in the draft. These are issues that we have not reached an
agreement on,” he told the Daily News before the meeting.

The three
principals of the coalition government have been reportedly pressuring Copac
to finish the draft.

Last week, President Robert Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai — with the backing of Cabinet — issued a
statement expressing worry over the delays and giving Copac until the end of
this week to complete the draft.

Since 2009 squabbles and disagreements
have been rocking the on-and-off constitutional process resulting in its
stalling at every turn.

The Copac management committee is made up of
coalition government negotiators, the three Co-chairpersons of the Select
Committee and the minister of Constitutional and Parliamentary
Affairs.

It provides policy direction to the process.

The
constitution-making process has been slowly dragging on, with accusations
flying that Copac members were forgetting their mandate and concentrating on
enjoying perks that come with the job.

Copac is a cross-party
parliamentary body leading the writing of the country’s new constitution,
viewed by regional leaders as key to the future stability of the
country.

Yesterday’s meeting was supposed to consider queries of some
Zanu PF officials who last week made demands that could see the process
dragging again, the officials were advised by the co-chairs to take their
concerns to the management committee, as principals were getting anxious
over the delays of the constitution.

Zanu PF members in Copac were
last week reported to have been demanding a clause by clause review, a
process which according to other members has already been done.

This
move exposes a deeper drive by Zanu PF members to delay the speedy
completion of a new constitution as demanded by Mugabe, who is pushing hard
for elections this year.

Sources within Copac told the Daily News the
move was spectacular as Zanu PF co-chair Mangwana had also announced to the
media that the draft was ready on the same day the principals issued the
statement.

Zimbabwe’s supreme law and future hangs in the balance as it
is tangled in Zanu PF factional politics and intra-party tug of war. Zanu PF
factions are at each other’s throats over Mugabe’s succession and have in
the past months taken their political power tug of war to
Copac.

Front-running the bid to derail the process and force elections
under the current outdated Lancaster House is serial political flip-flopper
Jonathan Moyo.

Moyo and Copac officials; including those representing
Zanu PF have been at each other’s throats following Moyo’s characterisation
of Copac as a “mafia” driving a regime change agenda in the
country.

Moyo was accused by his fellow party member, Mangwana of
plotting a spirited campaign against the process describing his actions as
the work of the devil.

In May Day Solidarity, Zimbabwe's NCA Urges Workers to Reject Draft
Charter

Zimbabwe's constitutional reform movement, the National
Constitutional Assembly has urged workers to take the lead in rejecting the
new draft constitution due for a referendum later this year, arguing the
proposed charter does not reflect majority will.

In a solidarity
statement ahead of Workers' Day Tuesday, the NCA said the working class
should stand up and demand a fair shake, including better salaries and
improved working conditions.

The group, which campaigns for a
people-driven constitution also criticized the government for running down
the economy and relegating the majority of workers to levels of abject
poverty.

Way behind schedule, the draft charter is under negotiation by
the unity partners, hard-pressed to reach agreement on several issues,
including devolution of power, dual citizenship, and the number of vice
presidents the country should have.

"Workers should take a lead in
rejecting the imposition of a negotiated document between the two MDCs and
ZANU-PF that COPAC intends to present to the public as the proposed draft
constitution," said spokesman Madock Chivasa.

But secretary-general,
Japhet Moyo of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions faction led by George
Nkiwane, said workers will not be influenced by the NCA.

"We said as
workers that what is going to come out of the process, the product itself,
will determine whether we will support it or not," said Moyo. "If the
charter reflects what the people were saying during the chaotic
information-gathering, and people accept it, who are we to oppose
that?"

Both formations of the ZCTU have, meanwhile, scheduled
different May Day events in Harare. The Nkiwane faction will be at Gwanzura
stadium, while the one led by Lovemore Matombo will hold its festivities at
Harare Gardens.

Industry
Minister Welshman Ncube, leader of the rival MDC wing issued a statement
urging government to pull out all the stops and address worker
concerns.

"The MDC believes the absence of sincere engagement with
workers in government decision-making processes deprives the nation of the
best ideas that will bring positive change to our economic circumstances,"
he said.

"We therefore, demand the resumption of the Tripartite
Negotiating Forum. We are convinced that only through honest engagement can
the national economic woes we face be abated."

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s government is investigating persistent
reports of rampant abuse of workers by Chinese employers, the labor minister
said Tuesday.

A team of investigators has already started visiting
Chinese construction and mining companies to compile details of alleged
abuses, Paurina Mupariwa said during the country’s Workers’ Day celebrations
in the capital, Harare.

Years of political and economic turmoil have seen an influx
of Chinese businesses in a “Look East” policy announced by President Robert
Mugabe. The creation of the policy is meant to replace Western investors
scared off by human rights violations and a black empowerment program that
envisions seizure of 51 percent of foreign-owned firms, excluding
Chinese.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, a former labor leader, said
Tuesday that workers now suffering record unemployment pinned their hopes on
democratic reforms for future economic growth.

Tsvangirai, in a shaky
coalition government formed with Mugabe after violent-ridden and
inconclusive elections in 2008, said the power-sharing deal has made it
difficult to pursue any programs to improve workers’ conditions.

“We
have a unique coalition of opposing ideologies...this has resulted in the
government dismally failing in its major responsibility of creating
jobs...and setting the tone and foundation for economic progress and
development,” he said.

He did not refer directly to complaints
against Chinese firms.

But Lovemore Matombo, a veteran labor union
official, at another Workers’ Day gathering in Harare, said the government
has turned a blind eye to workers’ abuse by the Chinese and have let them
“run the economy,” without regard to labor laws.

“The Chinese in this
country are treated more like a scared cow by government. They don’t want to
observe our labor laws. Every investor should abide by the country’s laws,”
he said.

Matombo said his organization has received complaints that the
Chinese companies in Zimbabwe, apart from giving workers low pay, can go up
to two months without paying any wages to their workers.

“Where they
(Chinese) are supposed to give workers $400, they give them $80 and can take
one or two months to do that. Workers are slapped and kicked,” he said.
“They don’t observe safety requirements and provide no protective clothing
in the mines.”

Labor leaders have also reported Chinese managers using
pejorative language against black Zimbabweans and locking them up in
storerooms for alleged indiscipline.

Workers who recently protested
working conditions at a military college being built by China outside Harare
said their peaceful demonstration was violently broken up by Zimbabwean
soldiers.

No response was immediately available from the Chinese embassy
officials in Harare.

In the past, Chinese officials have avoided
dealing with complaints against their nationals in Zimbabwe, stressing
instead their close and cordial ties with Mugabe’s party.

Mupariwa,
the labor minister, said she expected the investigations to be completed
this week. She will present the findings to the ministerial
cabinet.

“We will not allow this in our country. We won’t let it
happen to our workers,” she said.

Rival ZCTU factions celebrate
Workers Day separately

The factionalism
in the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) was exposed Tuesday when the two
rival unions held separate May Day celebrations in the country. The faction led
by George Nkiwane held celebrations inside Gwanzura Stadium, while the one led
by Lovemore Matombo was at the Harare Gardens.

Last year the ZCTU
split, in the run up to a congress that was meant to elect a new leadership.
Matombo, the president at the time, claimed delegates to the congress were not
properly vetted while those aligned to the eventual winner, Nkiwane, claimed
Matombo knew he did not have sufficient support to retain his
post.

Although reports
suggested unity talks were under way, Tuesday’s Workers Day celebrations
highlighted the existing acrimony. Matombo for example used an interview with
our correspondent to blast Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as a ‘political
prostitute’ and accused him of taking sides by attending the Nkiwane led
celebrations.

Tsvangirai
meanwhile gave a speech telling the thousands gathered at Gwanzura Stadium that
he was not happy there were two separate celebrations “because labour has chosen
to factionalise itself.” The PM said it was not in the interest of workers, “to
have a divided leadership claiming to represent their
interest.”

Tsvangirai, who
led the ZCTU as Secretary General before the formation of the MDC, said: “I hope
common sense will prevail because it is in the interest of workers for the
country’s largest labour body in the country, the ZCTU, to be one united entity.
I hope that dialogue will be speeded up so that the workers of this country will
speak with one strong voice through a united body.”

The PM also said
there was nothing to celebrate at this year’s workers’ day and “our calendar is
now laden with meaningless national holidays.”

“Today, we
“celebrate” workers’ day in a country where very few people are still in formal
employment, companies have closed down and the remaining workers, including
civil servants, are earning below the poverty datum line. So today is workers’
day in a country with no workers,” he said.

He added: “On
Thursday, we “celebrate” Press Freedom day when there is no such press freedom
in the country. So I have no doubt in my mind about the bleak backdrop on which
we celebrate this day.”

Interested to learn why the ZCTU
split?

Last month SW
Radio Africa journalist Lance Guma hosted a two part debate between rival
Presidents Lovemore Matombo and George Nkiwane. Both explain why the ZCTU split
and what it would take to unite the two factions. They also answered questions
from SW Radio Africa listeners.

Tsvangirai
‘Endorses’ Nkiwane’s ZCTU Faction

Harare, May 01 , 2012 – Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has decided to snub the Lovemore Matombo led
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions faction in favour of the George Nkiwane
grouping thereby endorsing the later.

The Nkiwane led ZCTU is holding its
May Day commemorations Gwanzura stadium while the Matombo led faction has
organised it’s at Harare gardens.Both groups invited Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai to be the guest of honour.“Prime Minister Tsvangirai will
this afternoon address workers in Gwanzura stadium. All workers and the
press are invited to attend this special day, “Luke Tamborinyoka Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s spokesperson confirmed to Radio VOP
Tuesday.Prime Minister Tsvangirai is said to be confused over the squabbles
in ZCTU and his attendance at any of the factions’ event means his
endorsement to that group.Sources within Prime Minister Tsvangirai’s
office said the Premier last week told both ZCTU factions that they should
put their house in order if they want to invite him keeping them guising
whether he will attend their events.Lovemore Matombo was booted out of the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions last year at congress which voted in Mr
George Nkiwane as the new president.

But Matombo urged that the congress
was illegitimately held and vowed not to relinquish his post.

At the
congress which was attended by 165 voting delegates in Bulawayo, 160 voted
for Mr Nkiwane while only two voted for Mr Matombo who boycotted the
congress.The power wrangle is still pending before the courts with the
two factions continuously fighting.

The Nkiwane led ZCTU’s secretary
General Japhet Moyo said the Matombo ZCTU rushed to invite Tsvangirai after
they had already invited him hence their victory.“We know that the
people who told you that Prime Minister Tsvangirai was going to snub us
obviously come from the rebels that are from the Matombo faction.“As far
as we are concerned we are convinced that Prime Minister Tsvangirai is
coming as he has confirmed and if he fails to come we will not link that to
our disputes. We have also invited Labour and social services Minister
Paurina Mpariwa to grace the May day,”Moyo said.But Matombo said they
are not worried by Tsvangirai’s absence at their event.“We welcome the
Prime Minister Tsvangirai’s decision not to attend because we know that was
going to divide workers. Tsvangirai as the former ZCTU secretary General he
knows the pains of being divided. It affects workers. We know that there are
some of us who want to be known by MDC and as ZCTU we are not worried by
Prime minister’s attendance or absence,” Matombo said.All over the world,
workers come together on this day to demonstrate their solidarity as workers
and their support for social democracy. The date commemorates the historic
struggles of working people, and is recognized in every country.

Armed
police quell ZANU PF clashes in Masvingo South

Ideological and personal fault lines are growing
in ZANU PF as rival factions gang up against each other following the
party’s District Coordinating Committee (DCC) elections
nationwide.

There were ugly scenes of intra-party violence following
another round of disputed DCC elections in Nyajena, Masvingo
South.

Armed police had to be called in to quell clashes and fired shots
to disperse the warring parties. Other party supporters fought running
battles at Shumba Primary School in Masvingo South, after members aligned to
the Mujuru faction accused their rivals of manipulating the
elections.

Supporters pelted each other with stones, resulting in several
people being injured and damage to the school classrooms with windows
shattered.

The warring factions, one led by Defence Minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa and the other by Vice-President Joice Mujuru, have been fighting
over various issues including control of party structures in the
provinces.

Last Thursday a ZANU PF meeting to discuss the DCC elections
disintegrated into an all out brawl as tensions came to a head in Nyanga.
Scores of people sustained minor injuries. Police in riot gear intervened
and managed to separate the warring factions. No one was arrested.The
Nyanga incident came barely a week after similar clashes in Masvingo where
police were also called in to disperse the fighting supporters.

The
clashes over the DCC elections in so many of the provinces have exposed the
levels of factionalism in the party as the big guns in ZANU PF battle to
position themselves to replace Mugabe.

SW Radio Africa is reliably
informed that party leaders from seven out of ten provinces have asked the
politburo to urgently call for fresh DCC elections, to inject new blood in
the running and management of the party affairs ahead of the next
election.The leaders allege the discredited elections were won by
individuals imposed on the party electorate by provincial executives, mainly
aligned to the powerful faction led by Mnangagwa.

The y said that it
was only through fresh DCC elections that ZANU PF would be salvaged from
disintegrating further due to the bad leadership from a section of the top
provincial party leaders who are driving out key supporters.

United
States based political analyst Dr Maxwell Shumba said the in-fighting in
ZANU PF is to be expected, because of the party’s propensity to ‘teach their
members not to love country but money and material things first.’

‘ZANU
PF is imploding and it will get worse unless they teach their members to
love country first and material things second. The politics of patronage is
destroying the party as everyone wants political power in order to control
the mineral wealth in the country,’ Shumba said.

He said the post-DCC
election violence has not only divided ZANU PF, but also threatened to cause
a deepening rift between the rival factions.

The party’s politburo is
expected to meet Wednesday to deal with the violence amid reports senior
members, including party leader Robert Mugabe, were alarmed after stalwarts
in provinces like Bulawayo, Masvingo, and Manicaland rose against each
other.

Transitional
justice ‘not possible’ with ZANU PF in power

A government minister has said attempts at a national healing and
justice programme in Zimbabwe will not be possible while ZANU PF remains in
power.

Moses Mzila Ndlovu, the co-Minister of National Healing from the
MDC-N party, said on Monday that ZANU PF’s continued presence in government
was undermining attempts to start moving the country forward.

He was
speaking at the launch of a Transitional Justice report in London, which
focused on the expectations of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora. The report is
the result of a series of workshops started by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO
Forum, which have aimed to gather public opinion on transitional justice
issues.

The report detailed how the main concern of the those in the
Diaspora is to be viewed as equal Zimbabweans to their citizens back home,
especially those who have also suffered at the hands of ZANU PF. Some of the
respondents told the workshops that their suffering was not being
acknowledged, and neither were their hopes for real justice.

Mzila
Ndlovu said at the report launch that the views of the Diaspora clearly echo
what is wanted in Zimbabwe in terms of moving forward towards justice. He
explained that these expectations cannot be fulfilled despite the Global
Political Agreement (GPA), which included national healing as a key aim of
the unity government.

He said that this is another one of the GPA
provisions that have not been honoured by ZANU PF, saying this is why “so
little” has been achieved by the unity government.

“There is so much
intimidation from our colleagues in government. They are threatening to
collapse the government, they are threatening early elections….But we cannot
pull out because we will lose what little we have achieved, and granted that
is not a lot,” Mzila Ndlovu said.

He described the little gains that the
government has made in terms of a slowly emerging plan of national healing
for a post-Mugabe era. He said the ball is starting to roll, with
international guided ideas of human rights and other legislation for the
future. But he admitted “this is not possible while ZANU PF is in
power.”

“We (MDC) are pushing hard for the cycle of impunity to end
because only when Zimbabwe achieves a state of respect for human rights can
we move forward with healing,” Mzila Ndlovu said.

War
vets threaten Biti

HARARE - Marauding war veterans and suspected militia
yesterday besieged the offices of Finance minister Tendai Biti, left, where
they threatened to beat him up for apparent “lack” of respect for President
Robert Mugabe.

Waving banners inscribed “Biti SHOW THE President
Respect”, the angry mob promised to burn the Daily News, among other
newspapers for “encouraging Biti’s campaign against Mugabe”.

The
militant veterans of the Zimbabwe’s liberation were incensed by the MDC
secretary general’s acerbic remarks with regards to Mugabe’s
age.

Biti is accused of having said Mugabe should be confined to an old
people’s home — sparking angry response from one of the octogenarian
leader’s fierce backers.

However, the unmoved Biti who confirmed the
demonstration and subsequent meeting with representatives of the war
veterans, said he respected Mugabe and had a solid working relationship with
the veteran leader.

“I respect the President, he is the head of state, I
respect the Prime Minister, I respect my principals. I actually have very
good relations with the President,” Biti told the Daily News."

“Just
last week I was in a three-hour-meeting with the President and we had
beautifully-made chicken and pancakes. I am a product of the good education
of this country which the President is responsible for,” Biti
said.

The combative MDC official said Mugabe should be the first one to
admit that his education policy had produced a competent breed of class to
which he was part to.

“He educated us to offer different views and I
am part of that generation he should be proud of. The President did not
educate us to be imbeciles, slavish and engage in moronic behaviour,” said
Biti.

The Finance minister revealed he had met a 12-member
representative team of the demonstrating war veterans and held a frank
discussion with regards to their grievances pertaining to payment of school
fees by government.

The ministry of Defence is responsible for paying the
fees for war veterans’ children but without allocation from treasury headed
by Biti, it is hamstrung.

“I had a meeting earlier on with some of
the war veterans. They were unhappy about the issue of payment of school
fees. We have a problem with our general fiscal position but we will deal
with it. I think at the end of the day it was a fruitful meeting. They
understood that there is not enough money,” Biti said.

“They also
understood that there has not been much revenue from our diamonds. We will
deal with their grievance.”

Biti, however, refused to be drawn into the
politics of the demonstration preferring to say that the task of reviving
the economy was more pressing than squabbling.

In yesterday’s
demonstration, there was a similar pattern to last year’s raid at the
minister’s office by suspected Zanu PF youths and war veterans who demanded
increases in school fees payouts for the former freedom
fighters.

Last year, Biti survived a bomb blast at his Glen Lorne
home, a day after he had a heated exchange with senior governments’ agents
during the Security Council meeting.

A powerful explosion destroyed
part of the durawall of the main entrance but no one was
injured.

Biti had threatened to resign from government after the bomb
attack.

Police are yet to arrest suspects in the
matter.

Previously Biti had been beaten, jailed and sent bullets in an
envelope by people he said were enemies of democracy.

Harare
International Festival of the Arts kicks off

The Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) got underway
Tuesday night with a dynamic cast of local and international performers set
to light up the Main Stage.

This year the six day festival goes under
the theme “A Show of Spirit” and will feature “music, theatre, dance, visual
arts, craft, spoken word and youth programming” according to HIFA founder
and artistic director, Manuel Bagorro.

On Sunday music legend Oliver
Mtukudzi will make a welcome return to HIFA on the main stage in a show that
will celebrate his 65th birthday. Other local talents to feature over the
coming days will be mbira songstress Chiwoniso Maraire, urban groover Alexio
Kawara and poets Outspoken and Comrade Fatso.

Those attending the
festival can also expect to see the likes of Black Umfolozi, Siyaya, Jeys
Marabini, Willis Watafi, Family Voices, Umdumo Wesizwe, Simon Banda and poet
Albert Nyathi. Dance group Super Crew and tap dancing and live jazz music
crew Jazz Tap Ensemble from the United States will also feature.

HIFA
says it aims to “showcase the very best of Zimbabwean, regional and
international arts and culture in a comprehensive programme of theatre,
dance, music, circus, street performance, spoken word, craft and visual
arts.” The intention they say is to “celebrate the healing and constructive
capacity of the arts.”

Court
insists WOZA ‘kidnap’ case will continue

A magistrate has dismissed an application by the Women of Zimbabwe
Arise (WOZA) pressure group, as part of their fight to have a ‘kidnap’ case
against them dropped.

WOZA leaders Jenni Williams and Magodonga
Mahlangu are facing kidnap and theft charges, despite the alleged victim of
the ‘kidnapping’ denying this happened. The theft charges meanwhile are
related to the disappearance of a torch.

The key witness, Emma
Mabhena, last year strongly denied she was ever kidnapped by the WOZA
leaders, which contradicted a statement the police claimed she signed. WOZA
said Mabhena has “disassociated herself with most of the statement penned in
her name by police officers.”

The WOZA leaders have since applied to the
High Court to have the case dropped, which is still pending before that
court.

The two also applied to be removed from remand on the basis of
their High Court challenge.

But a Bulawayo regional magistrate,
Godwin Sengweni, last week dismissed this application, arguing the
application to the High Court for a ‘stay of prosecution’ did not warrant
their removal from remand.

Media
Monitors Freed

Gwanda, May 01, 2012 – Three media monitors’ bid for
freedom was finally granted after magistrate Sheila Nazombe granted an
application for refusal of further remand by defense counsel Kossam
Ncube.

Fadzai December, Molly Chimhanda and Gilbert Mabusa are facing
trial for insulting or undermining the authority of President Robert Mugabe
but made a constitutional application to the Supreme Court arguing the
charges they are facing infringe on their rights .The Constitutional
Court is yet to make a ruling and the state will now proceed by way of
summons.Ncube had argued that having his clients on remand would infringe n
his client’s freedom as Supreme Court cases take long to be heard.The
trio is accused of insulting or undermining the authority of President
Robert Mugabe as the DVDs carry a message which says, “The President of the
Republic of Zimbabwe Robert Gabriel Mugabe is a wanted person for murder of
various people including political violence and that the state media was
biased and supportive of ZANU PF.”The charges stem from a civic
education meeting the three facilitated in November 24 last year and spent
twelve days behind bars after the state invoked Section 121 of the Criminal
Procedure and Evidence Act to deny them bail.

Ethanol
plant to sack 4,500 workers

UP to 4,500 workers at the US$600 million ethanol plant in
Chisumbanje could lose their jobs as Energy Minister Elton Mangoma continues
to resist pressure to introduce compulsory blending of petrol.

Green
Fuel has already ceased ethanol production after exhausting storage capacity
at the Chisumbanje plant with some 10 million litres of product in stock.
The shut down has resulted in 700 factory workers being sent home on forced
leave.

The company employs some 4,500 at the plant and at its vast sugar
plantations, but officials say they could all lose their jobs unless the
government introduces mandatory blending petrol imports with locally
produced ethanol.“We basically shut down the plant on February 6 and
sent all the 700 employees on leave,” general manager, Graeme Smith
said.

“We restarted the plant last week to keep the machine in shape and
to keep our staff motivated, but we will be closing again on May
6.”

Workers committee deputy chair, Kokanayi Mapungwana, added: “If there
is anything that needs to be done by the government, we are urging them to
do that expeditiously.“We have families to look after and we can only do
that if we are employed.”

The company has struggled to push its product
on the market as most service stations only have storage capacity for diesel
and petrol.

Again, motorists argue that the price of the company’s E10 (a
10-90 ethanol and petrol blend) is only marginally lower than unblended
petrol.

Green Fuel says higher blending rations would help reduce prices
further but efforts to get government support with that and compulsory
blending have so far hit a brick wall.

Energy Minister Elton Mangoma
recently ruled out compulsory blending, telling Green Fuel to export their
product if they could not sell it locally.

“We cannot have
legislation for individuals, because that would set a bad precedent. They
are free to export their product,” he said.

“We have already licensed
them (Green Fuels), they are already on the market selling their fuel. I
have not followed to see the volume which they are selling. Let’s not create
a problem which is not there.”

However, Smith said exporting the ethanol
would be counterproductive arguing the product would simply be re-imported
into Zimbabwe as blended petrol but at an extra cost to the
country.

He said compulsory blending could help the country save up to
US$250 million annually while higher blending rations would reduce pump
prices by a further 10 cents.

Observers say the ethanol project which
was expected to help end fuel supply problems as well as significantly
reduce the country’s petrol import bill has fallen victim to coalition
politics.

They claim that MDC elements in the government are reluctant
assist the project because of presumed links between individuals associated
with the company and President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party.

“There
appears to be a perception that by helping Green Fuel one is also helping
Zanu PF because of the supposed links between the party and individuals said
to be associated with the company,” said a source close to the
developments.

“But that is unfortunate because it is only the workers who
end up suffering and we are, in effect, undermining what could be a very
important project for the country.”

The company is also understood to
be fighting off predatory elements from Zanu PF who say they will not help
unless they get shares in the project inline with the country’s economic
empowerment laws.

But company officials say the project is already
compliant since it is a joint venture between two private but local
companies and the state-owned agriculture development agency,
ARDA.

Said Arda chairman Basil Nyabadza: “We now have signed a
Memorandum of Understanding which is guiding us in these negotiations (on
indigenization).

“Remember that when this project started there was no
indigenisation and we are now discussing to make it a joint venture project
between Government and the investors, and not a BOT (Build Operate Transfer
project,” he said.

Chiefs
threaten villagers as election euphoria heightens

ZAKA- Chiefs, war veterans and Zanu PF supporters continue to
turn a deaf ear on President Mugabe’s call to shun violence as they continue
to terrorize MDC-T activities in Zaka East constituency ahead of elections
which Zanu Pf has vowed should be held this year with or without a
constitution.Zaka, a stronghold of Zanu PF has been rocked with
political violence since 2008 with at least 11 MDC supporters murdered in
cold blood by the war veterans and militia.

Chief Nhema, a Zanu PF
functionary is said to have ordered all the sub chiefs and village headmen
to instill fear in the people so that they vote for Zanu PF. The villagers
have been threatened with evictions from the area, abductions, and death in
the event they are found to be MDC supporters.“We have been given direct
orders by Chief Nhema to threaten people with eviction if they did not
support Zanu PF,” said sub chief who spoke on condition of anonymity for
fear of victimisation.He added, “The chief is also working with the Zanu PF
executive members, Manyatera Venenzia, Festion Chinyanga and Jonathan
Mafunga, all from Chemhazha ward 21, in threatening us. We no longer feel
safe to conduct our day to day duties because we are afraid to be labeled
MDC supporters.”

Chief Nhema is also accused of denying MDC supporters
food aid from the grain loan scheme. The loan scheme which is a government
initiative is meant benefit everyone regardless of political
affiliation.Speaking at a memorial service of an MDC activist, Martin
Hanyani who died in November last year over the weekend, MDC-T District
Treasurer and aspiring candidate for Zaka East constituency, James Gumbi
advised youths to refrain from violence and encourage them to register to
vote in the next general elections.

“That election is for us the
youths, it is our job to change the country, Slogans without voting is a
waste of time.“We don’t want violence; we are a peace loving people and our
party is non violent party.”Gumbi said the memorial service of Hanyani,
who was brutally assaulted by Zanu PF activists in 2008 and died of internal
injuries, was a clear message that MDC-T respects and honour the young
people who fought for the democratization of this country.

Holland
Scoops $50 000 Peace Award

Harare, May 01, 2012 - Sekai Holland, one of
the three co -ministers for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration
has been named the recipient of the 2012 Sydney Peace Prize much to the
surprise of human rights activists.

The shocking awarding of the
US$50 000 prize was announced on Monday at a ceremony hosted by the
Australian Embassy in Harare, Meredith Burgmann.However, human rights
activists accuse Holland’s ministry of being a ‘paper tiger’ and highly
ineffective.The critics charge that her ministry has dismally failed in its
mandate set under the Global Political Agreement to specifically heal,
reconcile as well as integrate Zimbabweans after the bloody 2008 harmonised
elections which Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's faction says left more
than 500 of its supporters dead due to state-sponsored violence.The
Sydney Peace Prize jury’s citation reads: “Sekai Holland: for a lifetime of
outstanding courage in campaigning for human rights and democracy, for
challenging violence in all its forms and for giving such astute and brave
leadership for the empowerment of women.”Professor Stuart Rees, Chair of the
Sydney Peace Foundation said, “In addition to her work for the education of
rural women and her founding of Australia’s anti Apartheid movement fifty
years ago, Sekai Holland has been a significant leader of non violent,
democracy campaigns, and is a key figure in her country’s national dialogue
on how to heal the deep wounds of social conflict.”Holland, whose
ministry has been rated as one of the least performing if not the worst, was
caught unawares by the accolade.“This award comes as a wonderful surprise
but one which is so encouraging. I accept on behalf of the brave women I
have worked with for so many years and for my colleagues in our present
Organ for National Healing Reconciliation and Integration. I also
acknowledge the long term support and friendship which I have received from
Australian Aboriginal campaigners for human rights and for peace with
justice,” she said.2012 marks the 15th year of the Sydney Peace Prize,
Australia’s only international award for peace.Sometimes perceived as
controversial, previous recipients have included Professor Muhammad Yunus,
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Dr Hanan Ashrawi, former Governor General Sir
William Deane, Australia’s ‘Father of Reconciliation’ Patrick Dodson, the
Indian novelist and human rights campaigner Arundhati Roy and last year the
distinguished American academic and activist, Professor Noam
Chomsky.Holland will travel to Australia in November to give the City of
Sydney Peace Prize Lecture in the Sydney Town Hall on Wednesday November 7th
and will receive the 2012 Peace Prize ($50,000 and a trophy crafted by the
artist in glass at a gala on November 8th.

African farmers grow trees as a
natural crop fertilizer

In Africa, planting trees along with corn in
soil that is low in nitrogen can substantially increase corn production without
expensive fertilizers. In a decade, the number of small farmers using Fertilizer
Tree Systems has ballooned from a few hundred to more than
250,000.

A farmer inspects his crop
at his farm in Senekal, in South Africa's Eastern Free State. Thousands of
African farmers are planting trees among their crops to add nitrogen without the
need for expensive fertilizers.

Siphiwe
Sibeko/Reuters/File

Among the most
challenging long-term barriers to agricultural production and sustainability in
Africa is poor and degrading soil
quality.

A type of
agroforestry, FTS incorporate nitrogen-fixing trees and shrubs into
agricultural fields, usually inter-planted with food crops. These trees take in
atmospheric nitrogen and return it to the soil, where it serves as a nutrient
for plants.

Soil analyses by
the International Crops Research
Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and others in
the 1980s revealed nitrogen to be a limiting factor in many African soils. In
response, on-farm studies in the 1990s showed that FTS, with the right species,
could increase crop yields with or without mineral
fertilizers.

FTS are much
cheaper for farmers to implement than buying fertilizer and represent a more
holistic approach to soil management. FTS scaling-up programs were broadly
implemented about 10 years ago, and in that time the number of small farmers
using these techniques has ballooned from a few hundred to more than 250,000 in
Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

FTS have proven
most effective for small farmers who are able to devote the necessary labor and
land more easily than raise the money needed for commercial fertilizer. By
relying on naturally occurring systems rather than imports, agroforestry
improves food security, bolsters biodiversity, and reinforces local
economies.

The introduction
of a wider variety of plants to fields, for example, has been shown to increase
diversity of the local ecosystem, which further augments the
soil.

According to the
report, FTS have generally been successful, but they are subject to regional
variation. Some areas have found more suitable native nitrogen-fixers than
others, and many regions have had little or no research to identify the best
plants to use.

The report also
stresses that FTS do not provide all nutrients required by crops, so external
inputs are frequently necessary to boost phosphorus and potassium. However, as
nitrogen has been shown to be a limiting nutrient in much of southern Africa,
sustainable production can be improved through the use of FTS, even without
other fertilizers.

Farmers in
southern Africa have shown themselves keen to embrace new innovations, like the
FTS programs. As research and training continue, more small farmers will be able
to produce more food in sustainable ways.

Mbada
Diamonds Underwrites University Department

The
University of Zimbabwe's Metallurgy Department, which had been closed down
due to a lack of lecturers, has been adopted by the mining company Mbada
Diamonds, Zimbabwe newspaper The Herald reported.

Mbada revealed its
plans to underwrite the Metalurgy Department at a University of Zimbabwe
fundraising dinner whose guests included former South African President
Thabo Mbeki and various Zimbabwean government ministers. Mbada has stepped
to the fore as the university is appealing to donors for funding to the tune
of $70 million.

Mbada announced in September that it had become the
single largest producer of diamonds in Zimbabwe, knocking Rio Tinto out of
the top spot. According to Mbada chairman Robert Mhlanga, the diamond
company recovers a full 150,000 carats of diamonds per month from its mining
operations.

Mbare
Report No. 108 – Weekend in the cells

Weekend in the cellsA young
woman was earning a living by making cash books and selling them. At first
she did very well. A company bought hundreds of them. Bu then robbers came
and took everything. She could no longer pay the rent and her landlord took
her to court. That got her into police custody the first time.Hardly
released, she started her little business again, only to be picked up by the
police a second time. Back in the cells, she sent desperate SOS calls on her
cell-phone to her friends. She needed something like $ 30 to get out. That
was on a Saturday. Nothing doing on Sunday. We finally got her out on Monday
morning.Why are people who try make a living by producing something useful
punished as if they were criminals? “The law is an ass” – at least if it
does more harm than good as in this case.Trading without a licence may
be an offence in normal times. But these are not normal times. The vast
majority of our working population are unemployed and have to earn a living
in the informal sector. Why should they be punished for this? What about the
people who have destroyed our economy and do not create any employment?
Should they not be held accountable, much more than the victims of their
failed policies?

Our youngsters have started making candles which they
think are very much needed during these times of daily power-cuts. Very nice
candles. They gave me two large ones to use in the church.Producing
things is comparatively easy. To find a market for them and sell them – that
is much more difficult. There is a lot competition. You have to be cheaper
than your rivals in order to sell anything. And still make a profit?Our
young people who dream of getting rich quick learn the hard way.

Young
people like to get out of Mbare which they call the “ghetto”. One youth
group arranged for an outing to a lake. They presented the priest with a
bill of more than a hundred dollars. He asked, “How much can you raise
yourselves?” They did not expect this. But when they came back with about
half the money needed they were given the rest.Another group planned a
weekend trip to Mutemwa, the popular place of pilgrimage where people go to
pray the whole night on the mountain where John Bradburne, the martyr and
friend of the lepers, used to pray. They never asked for anything. For
months they had been saving up. No need for begging.People are beginning
to learn: the Church is not a big dairy cow to be milked. The Church is
theirs, not to be exploited. – - Oskar Wermter SJ

World Press Freedom Day - Not in Mugabe’s backyard

By Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, 1st May 2012.

Despite being hailed as a
“liberator” in 1980, Robert Mugabe was named by the international media
watchdog Reporters Without Borders as one of Africa’s 7 worst press freedom
predators in 2011. Little, if any has changed since then.

Admittedly,
the registration of 30 or so ‘independent’ publications was a move in the
right direction. However, the controversial licensing of 2 commercial radio
stations has been criticised for “keeping Mugabe’s critics out of the
race”.

Furthermore, journalists and street vendors continue to be
subjected to harassment, intimidation and violence by the regime’s agents,
while threats of lawsuits for criminal defamation have been blamed for the
dearth of investigative journalism.

Zimbabwe is inevitably undergoing
a political transition albeit characterised by many false starts and even
back pedalling. A typical case is that of the opening of the
airwaves.

As noted by Professor Eldred Masunungure, ‘a political
transition is about regime change or regime transformation’ (Zimbabwe’s
Power Sharing Agreement, paper prepared for a workshop on ‘The Consequences
of Political Inclusion in Africa’, April 24-25, 2009, American University,
Washington D.C. p4).

Critics argue that ‘not everyone is on board’ on the
transformation agenda as there is stiff resistance to key media reforms by
some hardliners.

It is this paper’s contention that the Mugabe regime is
‘driving with the hand-brake on’ as far as press freedom, the opening of the
airwaves and freedom of expression are concerned.

The basis for that
argument is the retention of ‘revenge laws’ like AIPPA and colonial criminal
defamation laws, the reluctance to reconstitute the Broadcasting Authority
of Zimbabwe (BAZ) and the ongoing running battles with civil
society.

For instance, police disrupted a road show organised by a
Bulawayo-based community radio initiative, Radio Dialogue during the recent
Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) suggesting lack of clear policy by
the inclusive government.

According to reports, police in riot gear
called off the road show, four hours after it had started, claiming there
was not enough space for holding the activity. Earlier in March, Police
refused to grant Radio Dialogue clearance for a free-the-airwaves
procession.

In 2010, Police and the CIO allegedly confiscated donated
shortwave radio sets from villagers in Murehwa and Bikita west in an effort
to deny them access to balanced foreign news broadcasts.

However,
despite condemning foreign based independent media as ‘pirate radio
stations’, the regime’s loyalists’ ironically feature in
interviews.

It is ironic and very sad that the former champions of the
fight for press freedom and a new world information order have now turned to
be oppressors 32 years later.

Zimbabwe’s coalition government
continues to pull in opposite directions on the issue of media freedom
although enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights – well
before some of the ministers were born!

By resisting press freedom ‘in
his back yard’ Robert Mugabe is only giving more ammunition to his critics,
a move that is unsustainable in transnational relations.